Thursday, October 31, 2013

"Hathor….. is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood…. she was a goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth….The cult of Hathor predates the historic period, and the roots of devotion to her are therefore difficult to trace, though it may be a development of predynastic cults which venerated fertility, and nature in general, represented by cows….Hathor is commonly depicted as a cow goddess with head horns in which is set a sun disk with Uraeus. Twin feathers are also sometimes shown in later periods as well as a menat necklace. Hathor may be the cow goddess who is depicted from an early date on the Narmer Palette and on a stone urn dating from the 1st dynasty that suggests a role as sky-goddess and a relationship to Horus who, as a sun god, is "housed" in her……The Ancient Egyptians viewed reality as multi-layered in which deities who merge for various reasons, while retaining divergent attributes and myths, were not seen as contradictory but complementary. In a complicated relationship Hathor is at times the mother, daughter and wife of Ra and, like Isis, is at times described as the mother of Horus, and associated with Bast….. by early Roman times females became identified with Hathor and men with Osiris.The Ancient Greeks identified Hathor with the goddess Aphrodite and the Romans as Venus."…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hathor

HET HERU …..Hathor (Het-Heru - "the house of Horus") ….With Het Heru, the emphasis is not on the hot gonadal expression of Heru, but on the cool, peaceful, joyous, refined charming, sexual arousal and seductive behavior that stimulates the production of estrogen and the female reproductive system….the sexual arousal is an expression of the arousal of the life force – Ra…… she is also the "Eye (utchat) of Heru". That is, the eye of the will, or simply, our ability to visualize what we want to achieve. When the Kamitic texts say that the deities whose bodies are composed of light nourish themselves on the celestial light supplied to them by the Eye of Heru, they are referring to the subtle luminous matter out of which our images are formed….In earlier Egyptian mythology, Hathor was portrayed as a cow with a stylized sun between her horns, a woman wearing a headdress with a solar disk and horns or a woman with the ears of a cow. She sometimes also wore a uraeus. One of the myths of Hathor sees her as the wandering eye of Amun or Ra, which he replaced."….http://www.lashtal.com/wiki/Hathor

Hathor's cult center was at Dendera, Egypt….The Dendera Temple complex, which contains the Temple of Hathor, is one of the best-preserved temples, if not the best-preserved one, in all of Egypt……The temple of Hathor was constructed over a period, we believe, of thirty-four years, between 54 and 20 BC. When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BC, the temple was, after four years of building activity, still in its early stages, although it did contain some underground crypts. It seems that the remainder of the temple was build during the twenty-one year reign of his successor, Queen Cleopatra VII. At the time of her death in 30 BC, the decoration work had just begun (on the outer rear wall)……http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/dendera.htm

"Hathor was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was considered to be the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow (linking her with Nut, Bat and Mehet-Weret). As time passed she absorbed the attributes of many other goddesses but also became more closely associated with Isis, who to some degree usurped her position as the most popular and powerful goddess. ….She was a sky goddess, known as "Lady of Stars" and "Sovereign of Stars" and linked to Sirius (and so the goddesses Sopdet and Isis). Her birthday was celebrated on the day that Sirius first rose in the sky (heralding the coming innundation). By the Ptolemaic period, she was known as the goddess of Hethara, the third month of the Egyptian calendar."…..http://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hathor.html

"The image of Hathor the Divine Cow suckling the pharaoh was quite common in ancient Egyptian art—however, it was not confined to Egypt. Similar motifs have been found on a wide variety of objects throughout the ancient Near East—in Crete, Syria, Mesopotamia, Greece, and on Phoenician objects as well. This image was thought to express the joyous tenderness, warmth, and contentment that sustains the flow of life. The Egyptian hieroglyphs for “to be joyful” was represented by a cow turning round to a young calf nestling at her side."….http://thelemapedia.org/index.php/Hathor

"Hathor was the goddess of joy, motherhood, and love. As the goddess of music and dancing her symbol was the sistrum. As a fertility goddess and a goddess of moisture, Hathor was associated with the inundation of the Nile. In this aspect she was associated with the Dog-star Sothis whose rising above the horizon heralded the annual flooding of the Nile. In the legend of Ra and Hathor she is called the "Eye of Ra."…….http://www.egyptartsite.com/hathor.html

"Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, or religious prostitution is a sexual ritual consisting of sexual intercourse or other sexual activity performed in the context of religious worship, perhaps as a form of fertility rite and Hieros gamos. The practice of sacred prostitution is well disputed among scholars, partly due to doubts cast on the histories of Herodotus….."In the Ancient Near East along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers there were many shrines and temples or "houses of heaven" dedicated to various deities. According to the Ancient Greek historian and story-teller Herodotus, as he wrote in The Histories, the ancient Mesopotamians practiced temple prostitution…"…Herodotus, The Histories 1.199, tr A.D. Godley (1920)

"The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BC in central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Sunga king Bhagabhadra. The site is located only 5 miles from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi……The pillar was surmounted by a sculpture of Garuda and was apparently dedicated by Heliodorus to the god Vāsudeva in front of the temple of Vāsudeva.

"Garuda-standard of Vāsudeva, the God of Gods…Vasudeva (Devanagari वसुदेव, IAST Vasudeva) is the father of Krishna.

Inscription of the Heliodorus pillar that was made by Heliodorus 110 BCE….
"Erected here by the devotee Heliodoros,
the son of Dion, a man of Taxila,
sent by the Great Greek (Yona) King
Antialkidas, as ambassador to
King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior
son of the princess from Benares, in the fourteenth year of his reign."
(Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909))

Taxila (Urdu ٹيڪسيلا), or Takṣaśilā in Sanskrit, literally meaning "City of Cut Stone" or "Rock of Taksha") is a town and an important archaeological site in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab province in Pakistan. Taxila is situated about 32 km (20 mi) north-west of Islamabad and Rawalpindi; just off the famous Grand Trunk Road. The town lies 549 metres (1,801 ft) above sea level. It is the head-quarters of the Taxila Tehsil in Rawalpindi district.

"Antialcidas Nikephoros "the Victorious" was a Greek King of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, king of the Eucratid Dynasty, who reigned from his capital at Taxila. Bopearachchi has suggested that he ruled from ca. 115 to 95 BCE in the western parts of the Indo-Greek realms, …Antialcidas may have been a relative of the Bactrian king Heliocles I, but ruled after the fall of the Bactrian kingdom. Several later kings may have been related to Antialcidas: Heliokles II, Amyntas, Diomedes and Hermaeus all struck coins with similar features….Though there are few sources for the late Indo-Greek history, Antialcidas is known from an inscription left on a pillar (the Heliodorus pillar), which was erected by his ambassador Heliodorus at the court of the Sunga king Bhagabhadra at Vidisha, near Sanchi. It states that he was a devotee of Krishna, the Hindu god……A part of the inscriptions says:….."This Garuda-standard was made by order of the Bhagavata ... Heliodoros, the son of Dion, a man of Taxila, a Greek ambassador from King Antialkidas, to King Bhagabhadra, the son of the Princess from Benares, the saviour, while prospering in the fourteenth year of his reign.""….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antialcidas

"The Greco-Bactrian Heliocles, circ. 145–130 BCE, relative (son or brother) and successor of Eucratides the Great, was probably the last Greek king who reigned over the Bactrian country. His reign was a troubled one. According to Roman historian Justin, Eucratides was murdered by his son and co-ruler, though Justin fails to name the perpetrator. The patricide might have led to instability, even civil war, which caused the Indian parts of the empire to be lost to Indo-Greek king Menander I……From 130 BCE a nomadic people, the Yuezhi, started to invade Bactria from the north and we could assume that Heliocles was killed in battle during this invasion. Details from Chinese sources seem to indicate that the nomad invasion did not end civilisation in Bactria entirely. Hellenised cities continued to exist for some time, and the well-organised agricultural systems were not demolished…..Even if this was the end of the original Greco-Bactrian kingdom, the Greeks continued to rule in northwestern India to the end of the 1st century BCE, under the Indo-Greek Kingdom. It is unclear whether the dynasty of Eucratides was extinguished with the death of Heliocles I or if members of the family emigrated eastwards. Several later Indo-Greek king, including Heliocles II, struck coins which could be associated with the dynasty"….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliocles_I

"The Yuezhi (Chinese: 月氏; pinyin: Yuèzhī) were an ancient Indo-European people often identified with the Tókharoi (Τοχάριοι) of Classical sources. They were originally settled in the arid grasslands of the eastern Tarim Basin area, in what is today Xinjiang and western Gansu, in China, before they migrated to Transoxiana, Bactria and then northern South Asia, where one branch of the Yuezhi founded the Kushan Empire."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuezhi

Click on the map to enlarge

"The Kushan Empire (Sanskrit: कुषाण राजवंश, Kuṣāṇ Rājavaṃśa; BHS: Guṣāṇa-vaṃśa; Parthian: Kušanxšaθr) was an empire in South Asia originally formed in the early 1st century CE under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria around the Oxus River (Amu Darya), and later based near Kabul, Afghanistan. The Kushans spread from the Kabul River Valley to defeat other Central Asian tribes that had previously conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau once ruled by the Parthians, and reached their peak under the Buddhist emperor Kanishka (127–151), whose realm stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic Plain."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire

"Sanchi is a small village in Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is the location of several Buddhist monuments dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 12th CE

"Menander I Soter "The Saviour" (known as Milinda in Indian Pali sources) was the Indo-Greek king (165 -130 BC) who established a large "empire in the South Asia and became a patron of Buddhism…….Menander was born in the Caucasus, and was initially a king of Bactria. He eventually established an empire in the Indian subcontinent stretching from the Kabul River valley in the west to the Ravi River in the east, and from the Swat River valley in the north to Arachosia (the Helmand Province). Ancient Indian writers indicate that he launched expeditions southward into Rajasthan and as far east down the Ganges River Valley as Pataliputra (Patna), and the Greek geographer Strabo wrote that he "conquered more tribes than Alexander the Great."…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menander_I

Ashoka Maurya (304–232 BCE)…."The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the northern Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BC. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen survive with inscriptions, and only six with animal capitals, which were a target for Muslim iconoclasm. Many are preserved in a fragmentary state. Averaging between 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) in height, and weighing up to 50 tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected."…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Ashoka

"Bhagabhadra was one of the kings of the Indian Sunga dynasty. He ruled in north, central, and eastern India around 110 BCE. Although the capital of the Sungas was at Pataliputra, he was also known to have held court at Vidisha…..He is best known from an inscription at the site of Vidisha in central India, the Heliodorus pillar, in which contacts with an embassy from the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas is recorded, and where he is named "Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior son of the princess from Benares…It is thought that name Bhagabhadra also appears in the regnal lists of the Sungas in the Puranic records, under the name Bhadraka, fifth Sunga ruler of the Sungas."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagabhadra

Indian Epigraphy : A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit ...By Richard Salomon Associate Professor of Sanskirt in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature University of Washington

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

"…..Pundarika, the first commentator upon the Kalachakra Tantra, distinguishes between.... "one ejaculation, which arises out of karma and serves to perpetuate the chain of rebirth, and another, which is subject to mental control ...” (Naropa, 1994, p. 20). An enlightened one can thus ejaculate as much as he wishes, under the condition that he not lose his awareness in so doing."…..http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Part-1-06.htm

"Ithyphallic…..ith·y·phal·lic …..Late Latin thyphallicus, from Greek thuphallikos, from thuphallos,
erect phallus : thus, straight + phallos, phallus; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.
1. Of or relating to the phallus carried in the ancient festival of Bacchus.
2. Having the penis erect. Used of graphic and sculptural representations.

"….One form of Ganapati known as Ragavajra, introduced to Tibet by Atisha in the 11th century, would likely be classified x-rated by most Western standards. In this example Ganapati is depicted dallying with a monkey, which is performing fellatio on him."…..http://www.tricycle.com/blog/himalayan-buddhist-art-101-controversial-art-part-3-ithyphallic-deities

"Sexual imagery in Himalayan Buddhist art, ……There are five main examples of ithyphallic deities: Vajrabhairava, Yama Dharmaraja, Black Jambhala, Ganapati, and Mahadeva (Shiva). ….The aroused state depicts both literally and symbolically an intense desire and passion to accomplish a specific task. In the case of Black Jambhala and Ganapati, the focus is on gaining wealth; for the red forms of Ganapati and Mahadeva, it is wealth and power; and for the meditational deity Vajrabhairava and the special protector Yama Dharmaraja, the symbolism relates to the intensity of their wrathfulness in overcoming ego and obstacles to reaching enlightenment." ….http://www.tricycle.com/blog/himalayan-buddhist-art-101-controversial-art-part-3-ithyphallic-deities

"The Hohle phallus, a 28,000-year-old siltstone phallus discovered in the Hohle Fels cave and first assembled in 2005, is among the oldest phallic representations known."…..

Phallus….."The term is a loanword from Latin phallus, itself borrowed from Greek φαλλός, which is ultimately a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰel- "to inflate, swell". Compare with Old Norse (and modern Icelandic) boli "bull", Old English bulluc "bullock", Greek φαλλή "whale"….."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus

"The main temple in the temple complex at 'Jageshwar Mahadev' is dedicated to ‘Bal Jageshwar’, or the Child Shiva. There is also a temple dedicated to Vridh Jageshwar, or Old Shiva, situated on the higher slopes. According to tradition, Lord Shiva came to meditate here, and when the women of the village came to know of this, they immediately left their household chores to have his darshan. When the men of the village heard of this, they were infuriated and came to see who is this sadhu who has captivated their women. Seeing the commotion, Shiva took the form of a child...."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jageshwar

"Kalachakra….."This empty body of the sadhaka is then in the course of the initiation occupied by the deity or the lama respectively. Chögyam Trungpa has expressed this in unmistakable terms: “If we surrender our body to the guru we are surrendering our primal reference point. Our body becomes the possession of the lineage; it is not ours any more. ... I mean that surrendering our body, psychologically our dear life is turned over to someone else. We do not have our dear life to hold any more” (June Campbell, 1996, p. 161)…..The Kalachakra Tantra describes this process as an “act of swallowing” which the lama performs upon the initiand. In a central drama of the Time Tantra which is repeated several times, the oral destruction of the sadhaka is graphically demonstrated, even if the procedure does only take place in the imagination of the cult participants. The following scene is played out: the guru, as the Kalachakra deity, swallows the pupil once he has been melted down to the size of a droplet. As a drop the initiand then wanders through the body of his masters until he reaches the tip of his penis. From there the guru thrusts him out into the vagina and womb of Vishvamata, the wisdom consort of Kalachakra. Within Vishvamata’s body the pupil as drop is then dissolved into “nothingness”. The rebirth of the sadhaka as a Buddhist deity takes place only after this vaginal destruction. Since the androgyne vajra master simultaneously represents Kalachakra and Vishvamata within one individual and must be imagined by the adept as “father–mother” during the entire initiation process, he as man takes over all the sex-specific stages of the birth process — beginning with the ejaculation, then the conception, the pregnancy, up to the act of birth itself."….http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Part-1-06.htm

"…..the “white bodhicitta” and the “secret substance” are nothing other than the semen virile……sperm gnosis, which so decisively shapes not just the Kalachakra but rather all tantras. The same name, bodhicitta, is borne by both the male seed and the supreme mystic experience, that of the “clear light”. This already makes apparent how closely interlaced the semen virile and enlightenment are. The bodhicitta ("wisdom-mind”) is characterized by the feeling of “supreme bliss” and “absolute self-awareness”. A connection between both states of consciousness and the male sperm seems to be a necessity for the tantric, since, as we may read in the Hevajra Tantra, “without semen there would be no bliss and without bliss semen would not exist. Since semen and bliss are ineffective on their own they are mutually dependent and bliss arises from the union with the deity” (Farrow and Menon, 1992, p. 169)…..http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Part-1-06.htm

"In the lineage of masters preceding Gyerpungpa (eighth century CE), there is found a master named Zhang-zhung dGa'-rab, who may be Garab Dorje."…..The Golden Letters: The Three Statements of Garab Dorje, ‎John Myrdhin Reynolds

"Garab Dorje or Garap Dorje is the only attested name. The Sanskrit offerings are reconstructions. No Sanskrit name has been found in a colophon to attest to historicity. That said, Germano (1992: p.4) cited "Vajraprahe" in the "Direct Consequence of Sound Tantra" within the Nyingma Gyubum (NGB1 24,1) and goes on to state in the same work that Reynolds (1989, 2000 revised)reverses the two words in the contraction in his translation and analysis of a section of the Bardo Thodol from Tibetan into English, specifically the rig pa ngo sprod gcer mthong rang grol (Wylie) where he employs "Prahevajra". Germano (1992: p.4) holds that Reynolds lexical choice of "Prahevajra" was informed by a mantra of a short Guru Yoga text by Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro (c.1893-1959)......Prahevajra or Pramodavajra (Tibetan: Garab Dorje, Tibetan: དགའ་རབ་རྡོ་རྗེ་, Wylie: dga’ rab rdo rje; Sanskrit: Prahevajra or Pramodavajra)"….Germano, David Francis (1992). "Poetic thought, the intelligent Universe, and the mystery of self: The Tantric synthesis of rDzogs Chen in fourteenth century Tibet." The University of Wisconsin, Madison. Doctoral thesis.

Zhang-zhung dGa'-rab
gShen -rab.....Tonpa Shenrab (Wylie: ston pa gshen rab "Teacher gShenrab") or Shenrab Miwo (Wylie: gshen rab mi bo)—also called the Buddha Shenrab, Guru Shenrab and a number of other titles—is the founder of the Bon tradition of Tibet.

"….Garab Dorje’s right hand and forearm appeared holding a golden casket, the size of a thumbnail, which circled round Mañjushrimitra three times, and descended into the palm of his hand. Inside it he found the Hitting the Essence in Three Words, Garab Dorje’s final testament, written in ink of liquid lapis lazuli on a leaf of five precious substances…….Tsik Sum Né Dek (ཚིག་གསུམ་གནད་བརྡེགས་, Wyl. tshig gsum gnad brdegs), 'Hitting the Essence in Three Words' — the final testament of the first human Dzogchen master Garab Dorje (Skt. Prahevajra)."…..http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Hitting_the_Essence_in_Three_Words

Lapis Lazuli is a semi precious blue stone with gold veins. Long ago, the lapis lazuli was grounded into a fine blue powder and it was with this blue powder that Leonardo Da Vinci, created the blue ink he used in his paintings....Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Sar-i Sang mines near Balkh and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BC ...

Garab (Persian: گراب‎, also Romanized as Garāb)

Persian Dzogchen…..…"In Tibetan, "dzogpa" means (a) something completed, finished, exhausted, and (b) everything is full, perfect & complete. Dzogchen or "mahâsandhi" in Sanskrit, considers itself the "highest truth", a view superior to Mâdhyamaka. For many Mâdhyamikas, Dzogchen is not even part of the Buddhadharma, but a sort of Chinese Dharma like Ch'an or coming from Advaita Vedânta, Kaśmiri Śaivism, or even Persian religion. This discussion is ongoing. Although Dzogchenpas claim to agree with Mâdhyamaka regarding emptiness, identifying the primordial base of all phenomena with the self-empty "Dharmakâya", the teachings do affirm the natural state of the mind to be of the nature of clarity, to be "from the very beginning" inseparable from this base. In doing so, one may ask whether the conditions for substantial instantiation have not been fulfilled, entailing a transcendent metaphysics of unbounded wholeness ? Does this take reason beyond itself ? The Dzogchenpas agree it does. For them, conceptual elaboration cannot end conceptual elaboration."…… Wim van den Dungen,.....Studies in Buddhadharma: Dzogchen or Mahâsandhi....http://www.sofiatopia.org/bodhi/dzogchen.htm

"Kashmiri (कॉशुर, کأشُر Kashur) is a language from the Dardic sub-group of the Indo-Aryan languages and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir…There are three orthographical systems used to write the Kashmiri language: the Sharada script, the Devanagari script and the Perso-Arabic script….Kashmiri, like German and Old English and unlike other Indo-Aryan languages, has V2 word order….Though Kashmiri has thousands of loan words (mainly from Persian and Arabic) due to the arrival of Islam in the Valley, however, it remains basically an Indo-Aryan language close to Rigvedic Sanskrit….….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_language

DORJE: "Vajra (Devanagari: वज्र; Chinese: 金剛 jīngāng; Korean: 금강저 geumgangjeo; Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ། dorje; Dzongkha (Bhutan): dorji; Japanese: 金剛杵 kongōsho) is a Sanskrit word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond. It is also a common male name in Tibet and Bhutan. Additionally, it is a symbolic ritual object that symbolizes both the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force)……The vajra is used symbolically by the Dharma traditions of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, often to represent firmness of spirit and spiritual power. The use of the vajra as a symbolic and ritual tool spread from India along with Indian religion and culture to other parts of East and Southeast Asia."

"The earliest mention of the Vajra is in the Rigveda, a part of four Vedas. It is described as the weapon of Indra, the god of heaven and the chief deity of the Rigvedic pantheon. Indra is described as using the Vajra to kill sinners and ignorant persons. The Rigveda states that the weapon was made for Indra by Tvastar, the maker of divine instruments. The associated story describes Indra using the Vajra, which he held in his hand, to slay the Asura Vritra, who took the form of a serpent……..On account of his skill in wielding the Vajra, some epithets used for Indra in the Rigveda were Vajrabhrit (bearing the bolt), Vajrivat or Vajrin (armed with the bolt), Vajradaksina (holding the bolt in his right hand), and Vajrabahu or Vajrahasta (holding the Vajra in his hand). The association of the Vajra with Indra was continued with some modifications in the later Puranic literature, and in Buddhist works. Buddhaghosa, a major figure of Theravada Buddhism in the 5th century, identified the Bodhisattva Vajrapani with Indra."….

"In Buddhism the vajra is the symbol of Vajrayana, one of the three major branches of Buddhism. Vajrayana is translated as "Thunderbolt Way" or "Diamond Way" and can imply the thunderbolt experience of Buddhist enlightenment or bodhi. It also implies indestructibility just as diamonds are harder than other gemstones…….In Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana) the vajra and ghanta (bell) are used in many rites by a lama or any Vajrayana practitioner of sadhanas. The dorje is a male polysemic symbol that represents many things for the tantrika. The vajra is representative of upaya whereas its companion tool, the bell which is a female symbol, denotes prajna. Some deities are shown holding each the vajra and bell in separate hands, symbolizing the union of the forces of compassion and wisdom, respectively.

"….Tantric Buddhism makes use of the hexagram, a combination of two triangles. The masculine triangle, which points upward, represents the phallus, and the downward-pointing, feminine triangle the vagina. Both of these sexual organs are highly revered in the rituals and meditations of Tantrism……Another highly significant symbol for the masculine force and the phallus is a symmetrical ritual object called the vajra. As the divine virility is pure and unshakable, the vajra is described as a “diamond” or “jewel”. As a “thunderbolt” it is one of the lightning symbols. Everything masculine is termed vajra. It is thus no surprise that the male seed is also known as vajra. The Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit word is dorje, which also has additional meanings, all of which are naturally associated with the masculine half of the universe."….http://www.trimondi.de/SDLE/Part-1-02.htm

"(In Tibetan rdo-rje, "lord of stones") An ultimately untranslatable Sanskrit word meaning diamond, adamantine, or thunderbolt, connoting immutability, unbreakability, and ultimate power. The vajra symbolized the supreme power of Indra in Vedic India and was used punitively by that god of war and storm. Universal Vehicle Buddhism transvalued it into a symbol of great compassion, the strongest power in the universe. In Tantric art and ritual it symbolizes compassion as great bliss consciousness, with its companion bell representing the wisdom of the void, the male organ with the bell as the female, and the magic-body with the bell as the clear light."
Origin: Sanskrit…..Source: Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment, Denise Patry Leidy, Robert A. F. Thurman. New York: Asia Society Galleries, Boston, Shambala: Tibet House, 1997. Copyright Asia Society Galleries, Tibet House, 1997. Source: Asia Source / Asia Reference

Zeus/Jupiter......with the Dorje or Cosmic Thunderbolt.

"The Vajra, thunderbolt, which Usana Kavya is said to have fashioned, as also Tvastri in RV 1 .32.2, was Indra's exclusive weapon and on account of his skill in wielding it, he is called in RV Vajrabhrit, bearing the bolt, Vajrivat, armed with the bolt. Vajradaksina, holding the bolt in his right hand, Vajrabahu or Vajrahasta, holding the Vajra in his hand, or Vajrin, armed with the bolt, which is the commoner epithet of them all. Not much information about the shape of Vajra is available in the RV. However, it is said that it was made of iron, and that it belonged to the category of the weapons called the astras i.e. those weapons which are operated by throwing."

"Bardo, Second Day: ….."Listen without distraction. On the second day, a white light, the purified element of water, will shine, and at the same time Blessed Vajrasattva-Aksobhya will appear before you from the blue eastern Realm of Complete Joy. His body is blue in color, he holds a five-pointed vajra in his hand and sits on an elephant throne, embracing his consort Buddha-Locana. He is accompanied by the two male bodhisattvas Ksitigarbha and Maitreya and the two female bodhisattvas Lasya and Puspa, so that six Buddha forms appear. .......
The white light of the Skanda of form in its basic purity, the mirror-like wisdom, dazzling white, luminous and clear, will come towards you from the heart of Vajrasattva and his consort and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. At the same time, together with the wisdom light, the soft smoky light of hell-beings will also come towards you and pierce you. At that time, under the influence of aggression, you will be terrified and escape from the brilliant white light, but you will feel an emotion of pleasure towards the soft smoky light of the hell-beings. At that moment do not be afraid of the sharp, brilliant, luminous and clear white light, but recognize it as wisdom. Be drawn to it with faith and longing, and supplicate it, thinking, "It is the light-ray of Blessed Vajrasattva's compassion, I take refuge in it." It is Blessed Vajrasattva coming to invite you in the terrors of the bardo; it is the light-ray hook of Vajrasattva's compassion, so feel longing for it. ….Do not take pleasure in the soft smoky light of the hell-beings. This is the inviting path of your neurotic veils, accumulated by violent aggression. If you are attracted to it you will fall down into hell, and sink into the muddy swamp of unbearable suffering from which there is never any escape. It is an obstacle blocking the path of liberation, so do not look at it, but give up aggression. Do not be attracted to it, do not yearn for it. Feel longing for the luminous, brilliant, white light, and say this inspiration-prayer with intense concentration on Blessed Vajrasattva….."

"On the surface of this boulder we find a number of intriguing depictions. They include a mounted figure, a standing figure wielding a bow or spear, three dorjes (ritual thunderbolt of Vayrayana), concentric circles and two unidentified bi-circular designs. The bi-circular petrogylphs containing various design elements are the oldest figures on this boulder as indicated by the substantial repatination they have underwent (considerably more than the other figures). Recalling generative eggs, masks and mandalas, it would seem that they represent an important pre-Buddhist cultural theme by virtue of the subsequent carving of the dorjes on the same rock.
http://www.asianart.com/articles/rockart/16.html

" the ithyphallic [having an erect penis] depictions of solitary male deities and dancing Vajrayogini figures…..There are five main examples of ithyphallic deities: Vajrabhairava, Yama Dharmaraja, Black Jambhala, Ganapati, and Mahadeva (Shiva). Each is generally depicted alone, though Mahadeva is often flanked by the consort Uma Devi; some paintings depict the deity holding his erect member in his left hand. Ganapati, a deity of peculiar persuasion, is occasionally befriended by a female monkey while in the aroused state…..According to function and the classification of the Four Tantric Activities of Vajrayana Buddhism, these deities all perform either "powerful" or "wrathful" activities. The aroused state depicts both literally and symbolically an intense desire and passion to accomplish a specific task. In the case of Black Jambhala and Ganapati, the focus is on gaining wealth; for the red forms of Ganapati and Mahadeva, it is wealth and power; and for the meditational deity Vajrabhairava and the special protector Yama Dharmaraja, the symbolism relates to the intensity of their wrathfulness in overcoming ego and obstacles to reaching enlightenment. ….One form of Ganapati known as Ragavajra, introduced to Tibet by Atisha in the 11th century, would likely be classified x-rated by most Western standards. In this example Ganapati is depicted dallying with a monkey, which is performing fellatio on him."…..http://www.tricycle.com/blog/himalayan-buddhist-art-101-controversial-art-part-3-ithyphallic-deities

"The main temple in the temple complex at 'Jageshwar Mahadev' is dedicated to ‘Bal Jageshwar’, or the Child Shiva. There is also a temple dedicated to Vridh Jageshwar, or Old Shiva, situated on the higher slopes. According to tradition, Lord Shiva came to meditate here, and when the women of the village came to know of this, they immediately left their household chores to have his darshan. When the men of the village heard of this, they were infuriated and came to see who is this sadhu who has captivated their women. Seeing the commotion, Shiva took the form of a child...."...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jageshwar

"Luminous mind (also, "brightly shining mind," "brightly shining citta") (Sanskrit prakṛti-prabhāsvara-citta, Pali pabhassara citta) is a term attributed to the Buddha in the Nikayas. The mind (Citta) is said to be "luminous" whether or not it is tainted by mental defilements......The statement is given no direct doctrinal explanation in the Pali discourses, but later Buddhist schools explained it using various concepts developed by them. The Theravada school identifies the "luminous mind" with the bhavanga, a concept first proposed in the Theravada Abhidhamma. The later schools of the Mahayana identify it with both the Mahayana concepts of bodhicitta and tathagatagarbha. The idea is also connected with features of Dzogchen thought."…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_mind

Bodhicitta. Uchen script

"Bodhicitta…..The Mahayana interprets the brightly shining citta as bodhicitta, the altruistic "spirit of awakening." The Astasahasrika Perfection of Wisdom Sutra describes bodhicitta thus: "That citta is no citta since it is by nature brightly shining." This is in accord with Anguttara Nikaya I,10 which goes from a reference to brightly shining citta to saying that even the slightest development of loving-kindness is of great benefit. This implies that loving-kindness - and the related state of compassion - is inherent within the luminous mind as a basis for its further development. The observation that the ground state of consciousness is of the nature of loving-kindness implies that empathy is innate to consciousness and exists prior to the emergence of all active mental processes."…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_mind

"Avestan angra mainyu "seems to have been an original conception of Zoroaster's."…. In the Gathas, which are the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and are attributed to the prophet himself, angra mainyu is not yet a proper name…..In the one instance in these hymns where the two words appear together, the concept spoken of is that of a mainyu ("mind", "mentality", "spirit" etc.)…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angra_Mainyu

"……a Sufi work on the stations of the heart .... The word “heart” is similar to the word “eye” ('ayn)….These elements, or stations (maq ̄am ̄at) in the terminology of the author, are the breast (.sadr), the heart proper (qalb), the inner heart (fu’ ̄ad) and the intellect (lubb). They are arranged in concentric spheres, the breast being the outermost sphere followed on the inside by the heart, the inner heart and the intellect. Within the intellect are yet other stations which, however, are too subtle to be described in words…..Each of these stations of the heart has its own characteristics and functions. Thus the breast (.sadr) is the abode or seat of the light of Islam (nu ̄r al-Isl ̄am). It is also the repository for that kind of knowledge (‘ilm) required for the practice of Islam, such as knowledge of the Quire’ ̄an, the Prophetic traditions and the religious law (shar ̄ı‘ah)…..The heart proper (qalb), which is within the breast, is the abode of the light of faith (nu ̄r al-im ̄an). Faith is the acceptance by the heart of the truth of God’s revelation. The heart is also the repository of what the author calls valuable or useful knowledge (al-‘ilm al- n ̄afi‘). This is an interior knowledge of reality (al-h.aq ̄ıqah)that can only be granted to one by God. It cannot be learned from books or from a teacher as can the type of knowledge associated with the breast….The inner heart (fu’ ̄ad) is the abode of the light of gnosis (nu ̄r al-ma‘rifah). It is associated with the vision (ru’yah) of reality. Whereas the heart has mere knowledge of reality, the inner heart actually sees reality."…..http://faculty.washington.edu/heer/stations.pdf

"The channel that goes from the heart to the eyes is called the "crystal kati channel".........this seems to be the key to the whole thing.The Golden Letters by John Myrdhin Reynolds....The Golden Letters by John Myrdhin Reynolds

"Dzogchen: Thodgal (Leap-Over) Instructions by Dudjom Lingpa....there are three kinds of lamps of the vessel. The quintessence of the body is the citta lamp of the flesh at the heart, the inside of which is soft white. This is called the lamp of the channels, the quintessence of the channels, and hollow crystal kati channel. It is a single channel, one-eighth the width of a hair of a horse's tail, with two branches that penetrate inside the heart like the horns of a wild ox. They curve around the back of the ears and come to the pupils of the eyes. Their root is the heart, their trunk is the channels, and their fruit is the eyes.....http://www.theopendoorway.org/thodgal.html

"Discovering drala is indeed to establish ties to your world, so that each perception becomes unique. It is to see with the heart, so that what is invisible to the eye becomes visible as the living magic of reality." (Trungpa: 1984..pg 105)

"The Nature of Mind is not only ... primordial purity (ka-dag), but it is equally characterized by a luminous clarity (gsal-ba) and intrinsic awareness (rig-pa)……the light of awareness that illuminates our world. ... This inner light (nang >od), the light of awareness, resides in the hollow space inside ... a maroon-colored carnelian stone decorated with white crystals ... . This inner light of awareness proceeds from the hollow space ..., moving upward through the kati channel, to the two ... lenses to focus this light. The two ... are the gateways for the emergence into outer space of this inner light of awareness…..Thus, this light and the images that appear in this light, are actually something internal ..., but here they manifest in the empty space in front of oneself. The light ... is projected ... out through the lenses of the two eyes into the space in front, much like one is watching a cinema show. This process may be compared to a magic latern or a projector. ...The objects that appear are not really outside oneself. ……http://texts.00.gs/Practice_of_Dzogchen_in_the_Zhang-Zhung_Tradition,_2.htm…..Practice of Dzogchen in the Zhang-Zhung Tradition of Tibet: Translations from the The Gyalwa Chaktri of Druchen Gyalwa Yungdrung, and The Seven-fold Cycle of the Clear Light By:John Myrdhin Reynolds (translator)

"Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung that describe his encounter with the Native American chief of the Taos pueblos in New Mexico in 1932….I was able to talk with him as I have rarely been able to talk with a European,’ Jung recalls…Chief Ochwiay Biano, which means Mountain Lake, must have sensed a kindred spirit in the Swiss doctor, because he was devastatingly candid with him….‘See how cruel the whites look, their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by folds. Their eyes have a staring expression; they are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something. They are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want. We do not understand them. We think that they are all mad…..When Jung asks why he thinks they are all mad, Mountain Lake replies, ‘They say they think with their heads.’….’Why of course, says Jung, ‘What do you think with?’….’We think here,’ says Chief Mountain Lake, indicating his heart…..After this exchange, Jung fell into a deep meditation. The Pueblo Chief had struck a vulnerable spot.says of this exchange, what makes this dialogue reported by Jung so relevant is that it describes an encounter between a representative of the unconscious ‘heart thinking’ of the ancients and a modern man of science and a pioneer of consciousness who understood that the wisdom of the heart must catch up with our overdeveloped ‘thinking heads…".. https://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/jung-in-conversation-with-a-native-american-chief/
http://carljungdepthpsychology.blogspot.com/2012/07/conversation-with-native-american-chief.html

"Whose beloved are You" I asked,
"O You who are so unbearably beautiful?"
"My own," He replied, "for I am One and Alone
love, lover, and beloved - mirror, beauty and the very eyes that see."

- from Fakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes (Classics of Western Spirituality), Translation by William C. Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson

"Fakhruddin 'Araqi's work, Divine Flashes (Lama'at)…..Both Dzogchen and Sufism are diamond-like Wisdom Teachings grounded in the Radical Primordial Reality. The goal of Sufism is to become the perfect mirror of the Formless through the purification of the heart. "In Sufism, as in most other authentic traditions, it is possible to become aware of the metaphysical transparency of forms and to be able to contemplate the One in the multifaceted manifold."….http://www.buddhanet.net/mag_one.htm

"Fakhr al-dīn Ibrahīm ‘Irāqī (Persian: فخرالدین ابراهیم عراقی‎; 10 June 1213 – 1289), Persian Sufi master, poet and writer….He is known by many Sufis as a commenter on Sufi teachings, one of the great Persian poets, and an artist. ‘Iraqi is also considered to have reached an exalted station of spiritual realization within the Sufi tradition…‘Iraqi was both a member of the school of Persian Sufi poetry but also has been identified with the Ibn Arabian school of Sufism. However, ‘Iraqi was also a Gnostic who often spoke in the language of love. For him, as well as many other Sufis, love was realized knowledge. ‘Iraqi's writing Lama’at (Divine Flashes) fits into a genre of Sufi writings which expresses certain doctrines in the language of love….. 'Iraqi often listened to Rumi teach and recite poetry, and later attended Rumi's funeral."….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakhr-al-Din_Iraqi

"Fakhruddin 'Araqi was contemporary with other giants of Sufism such as Ibn 'Arabi, Jalaluddin Rumi and Sadruddin Qunawi, men whose teachings dominate Sufi spirituality to this day. He himself was a leading light in a period so luminous that its brilliance still dazzles the eye some seven centuries later."

'Araqi was a Gnostic who spoke the language of love. For him, as for Sufism in general, love is not juxtaposed to knowledge. It is realised knowledge. The Truth, which is like a crystal or a shining star in the mind, becomes wine when it is lived and realised. It inundates the whole of man's being, plucking the roots of his profane consciousness from this world of impermanence and bringing about an inebriation that must of necessity result from the contact between the heart of man and the Infinite... Thus 'Araqi sees the phenomenal world not as a veil but rather as a mirror reflecting the infinite noble qualities and possibilities of Radiant Perfect Being."…….http://www.mysticsaint.info/2009/11/fakhruddin-iraqi-divine-flashes-lamaat.html

"The Divine Flashes is especially beautiful as it intersperses poetry with lyrical prose, often with the former an ecstatic rendering of the latter. Furthermore, there is a sense in which the Divine Flashes is a union of the Western and Eastern Schools of Sufism. The Divine Flashes was inspired by one of Ibn 'Arabi's major works The Bezels of Wisdom. Born in Spain, Ibn 'Arabi is considered by many Sufis to be the greatest of all Masters and his writings are revered as great."

"Lama’at or Divine Flashes is the best known of ‘Iraqi's writings and was written during his time in what is now present day Turkey. A part of the ‘language of love’ genre within Sufi writing, it takes an interesting view on how one view the world. Unlike others before him ‘Iraqi viewed the world as a mirror which reflected God's Names and Qualities and not as a "veil" which must be lifted. "…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakhr-al-Din_Iraqi

….. "the mysteries of Union" ……The journey to God takes place within the heart, and for centuries Sufis have been traveling deep within themselves, into the secret chamber of the heart where lover and Beloved share the ecstasy of union…..The Kamal Posh recognized that Muhammad knew the mysteries of the heart….. the Kamal Posh became the mystical element of Islam. And later these wayfarers became known as Sufis, perhaps in reference to the white woolen blanket, sûf, which they wore, or as an indication of their purity of heart, safâ, for they were also known as the pure of heart."…..http://www.goldensufi.org/a_meditation_of_heart.html

"I gaze at the mirror which reveals my beauty
and see the universe but an image of that image.
In the paradise of theophany I am the Sun: marvel not
that every atom becomes a vehicle of my manifestation."

"Ibn 'Arabî's mystical teaching is expressed by the term wahdat al-wujûd, unity of being. Ibn 'Arabî replaced the idea of a personal God with a philosophical concept of Oneness. ….When you know yourself, your "I-ness" vanishes and you know that you and God are one and the same."….Fanâ , the loss of one's "I-ness," is a state of realizing one's essential oneness with God.

"Different Sufi paths use different meditation techniques. One pratice developed by the Naqshbandi order uses the energy of love to go beyond the mind. ….Rather than attempting to still one's thoughts by focusing on the mind, through focusing on the heart and the feeling of love within the heart one leaves the mind behind. Thought-forms slowly die and our emotions are also stilled…. it is possible in Sufi spirituality, as in most other authentic traditions, to become aware of the metaphysical transparency of forms and to be able to contemplate the One in the multifaceted manifold.."…..http://www.goldensufi.org/a_meditation_of_heart.html

"In Islamic thought, the traditional authorities speak of "transcendence" (tanzih) and "immanence" (tashbih), or the "negative" and "positive" ways, of which the second corresponds more to the perceptive of 'Iraqi. He and Sufis like him see the phenomenal world not as the "veil", but rather as the mirror reflecting God's Names and Qualities, or as a symbol of the spiritual world. For them beauty is not the cause of seduction, but the occasion for recollection of the spiritual archetypes in Platonic sense."…..http://www.mysticsaint.info/2009/11/fakhruddin-iraqi-divine-flashes-lamaat.html

"….annihilation (fanâ’)…..Sufi spirituality finds its apotheosis in the realization of the subjective concomitant of this message, this subjective element being, paradoxically, the very extinction of individual subjectivity, expressed by the term fanâ'……One might almost say that the truth of tawhîd is realized in direct proportion to the realization of fanâ’, or to the realization of the realities that flow from the attainment of this state; on the other hand, to the extent that one falls short of the realization of one’s nothingness, one cannot escape the "sin" of idolatry: the setting up of "another" as a "partner" or "associate" of the one-and-only Reality, the "other" being one’s own self….."….http://www.secondspring.co.uk/otherreligions/shah-kazemi1.htm

"…..Fanaa (Arabic: فناء‎ fanāʾ ) is the Sufi term for "dissolution" or "annihilation" (of the self) or Muraqaba.It means to dissolve the ego self, while remaining physically alive. Persons having entered this enlightenment state obtain awareness of the intrinsic unity (Tawhid) between Allah and all that exists, including the individual's mind. It is coupled conceptually with baqaa, subsistence, which is the state of pure consciousness of and abidance in God…..The word appears once in the Qurʾān. “Everyone upon the earth will perish (fānin), and there will remain (yabqá) the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor. So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?” (Surat al-Rahman)"…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fana_(Sufism)

"With the rise of critical history, Troy and the Trojan War were, for a long time, consigned to the realms of legend. However, the true location of ancient Troy had from classical times remained the subject of interest and speculation, so when, in 1822, the Scottish journalist Charles Maclaren reviewed the available material, he was able to identify with confidence the position of the acropolis of Augustus's New Ilium in north-western Anatolia……In 1866, Frank Calvert, the brother of the United States' consular agent in the region, made extensive surveys and published in scholarly journals his identification of the hill of New Ilium (which was on farmland owned by his family) as the site of ancient Troy. The hill, near the city of Çanakkale, was known to the Turks as Hisarlık."…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy

"Balkh was old long before Alexander’s raid, reached its height about 2500 BC, and its history of 5000 years records more than a score of conquerors. The Arabs, impressed by Balkh’s wealth and antiquity, called it Umm-al-belad, the mother of all cities. When the Silk Road was the chief artery of commerce between East and West, Balkh was second to none......A large and prosperous city of mud brick some three square miles in area, it held perhaps 200,000 persons. It was surrounded by mud-brick walls pierced by seven gates."......http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/cities/afghanistan/balkh.html

"Heinrich Schliemann (German: 1822 – 1890) was a German businessman and a pioneer of field archaeology. He was an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Hissarlik, now presumed to be the site of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His work lent weight to the idea that Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid reflect actual historical events….Schliemann, defying the ridicule of the learned world, actually unearths the remains of the ancient city of Troy. "….http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Schliemann

"Troy (Ancient Greek: Ἴλιον, Ilion, or Ἴλιος, Ilios; and Τροία, Troia; Latin: Trōia and Īlium; Hittite: Wilusa or Truwisa; Turkish: Truva) was a city, both factual and legendary, in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, south of the southwest end of the Dardanelles / Hellespont and northwest of Mount Ida. It is best known for being the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Metrical evidence from the Iliad and the Odyssey seems to show that the name Ἴλιον (Ilion) formerly began with a digamma: Ϝίλιον (Wilion). This was later supported by the Hittite form Wilusa."…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy

"Besides the Iliad, there are references to Troy in the other major work attributed to Homer, the Odyssey, as well as in other ancient Greek literature (like Aeschylus' Oresteia). The Homeric legend of Troy was elaborated by the Roman poet Virgil in his Aeneid. The Greeks and Romans took for a fact the historicity of the Trojan War and the identity of Homeric Troy with the site in Anatolia. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the site in 334 BC and made sacrifices at tombs there associated with the Homeric heroes Achilles and Patroclus…. in Homer's Iliad, Patroclus, or Patroklos (Ancient Greek: Πάτροκλος Patroklos “glory of the father”), was the son of Menoetius, grandson of Actor, King of Opus, and was Achilles' beloved comrade and brother-in-arms."…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patroclus

Click on the map to enlarge

Troy I…. 3000–2600 BC ….The first city on the site was founded in the 3rd millennium BC. During the Bronze Age, the site seems to have been a flourishing mercantile city, since its location allowed for complete control of the Dardanelles, through which every merchant ship from the Aegean Sea heading for the Black Sea had to pass. Around 1900 BC a mass migration was set off by the Hittites to the east. Cities to the east of Troy were destroyed, and although Troy was not burned, the next period shows a change of culture indicating a new people had taken over Troy….Initial settlement of the early bronze age. Construction material: sun - dried bricks. (adobe)

Troy II ……2600–2250 BC …When Schliemann came across Troy II, in 1871, he believed he had found Homer's city. Schliemann and his team unearthed a large feature he dubbed the Scaean Gate, a western gate unlike the three previously found leading to the Pergamos. This gate, as he describes, was the gate that Homer had featured. As Schliemann states in his publication Troja: "I have proved that in a remote antiquity there was in the plain of Troy a large city, destroyed of old by a fearful catastrophe, which had on the hill of Hisarlık only its Acropolis with its temples and a few other large edifices, southerly, and westerly direction on the site of the later Ilium; and that, consequently, this city answers perfectly to the Homeric description of the sacred site of Ilios."

Troy VI: 17th–15th centuries BC…Troy VI was destroyed around 1250 BC, probably by an earthquake. Only a single arrowhead was found in this layer, and no remains of bodies. However the town quickly recovered and was rebuilt in a layout that was more orderly.

Troy VIh: late Bronze Age, 14th century BC

Troy VIIa: c. 1300–1190 BC, most likely setting for Homer's story[…Troy VII, which has been dated to the mid-to-late-13th century BC, is the most often cited candidate for the Troy of Homer. It appears to have been destroyed by war. The evidence of fire and slaughter around 1184 BC, which brought Troy VIIa to a close, led to this phase being identified with the city besieged by the Greeks during the Trojan War. This was immortalized in the Iliad written by Homer….Ancient Greek historians variously placed the Trojan War in the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries BC: Eratosthenes to 1184 BC, Herodotus to 1250 BC, Duris of Samos to 1334 BC. Modern archaeologists associate Homeric Troy with archaeological Troy VII.

Troy VIII: c. 700–85 BC.. In May 334 Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont and came to the city, where he visited the temple of Athena Ilias, made sacrifices at the tombs of the Homeric heroes, and made the city free and exempt from taxes.[37] According to the so-called 'Last Plans' of Alexander which became known after his death in June 323, he had planned to rebuild the temple of Athena Ilias on a scale that would have surpassed every other temple in the known world.

"In the sky without karma, there is nothing to improve…
Sky like primordial presence
Has no crossed legs or straight posture…"

Dunhuang (help·info) (Dūnhuáng… in ancient times meaning 'Blazing Beacon') was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu (沙州), or 'City of Sands', "or Dukhan as the Turkis call it."It is best known for the nearby Dunhuang Caves….., during the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was a major point of communication between ancient China and Central Asia. By the Tang Dynasty it became the major hub of commerce of the Silk Road. Early Buddhist monks arrived at Dunhuang via the ancient Northern Silk Road, the northernmost route of about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) in length, which connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an westward over the Wushao Ling Pass to Wuwei and on to Kashgar. For centuries, Buddhist monks at Dunhuang collected scriptures from the West, and many pilgrims passed through the area, painting murals inside the Mogao Caves or "Caves of a Thousand Buddhas." A small number of Christian artifacts have also been found in the caves (see Jesus Sutras), testimony to the wide variety of people who made their way along the Silk Road…. Dunhuang went into a steep decline after the Chinese trade with the outside world became dominated by Southern sea-routes, and the Silk Road was officially abandoned during the Ming Dynasty."…..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunhuang

A large number of manuscripts and artifacts retrieved at Dunhuang have been digitized and made publicly available via the International Dunhuang Project…. The Dunhuang cave was closed in the early 11th century, and therefore any Dunhuang manuscript may have been written no earlier than that.

"Although the prayer is comprised of twenty-two verses, a set of six crucial verses offer the outline of the Dzogchen teachings represented through the discussion of Base, Fruit and Path. The six verse form is typical of the kind usually found in the earliest Dzogchen Nyingma text, “The Cuckoo of the Intellect” (Rig pa’i khu byug), a copy of which was among the works found in Dunhuang. The text is dated to eight century, and catalogued as No. 746 in the Sir Aurel Stein’s collection of manuscripts."….http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_16_01.pdf

"The Indic origin of the early Dzogchen texts was disputed by Podrang Zhiwa Ö, a Western Tibetan monk and ruler of the 11th century, and a proponent of the “new transmissions”….pho brang zhi ba ’od…..Podrang Zhiwa Ö (1016-1111 AD)…the discovery in the 1980s of two Dzogchen texts among the Dunhuang manuscripts …Both have been translated and transcribed in Karmay’s The Great Perfection, and are even more easily accessible in Karen Liljenberg’s online translations….."….http://earlytibet.com/2008/01/08/early-dzogchen-i/
rCQGAH

“The Small Hidden Grain” and commentary (IOL Tib J 594)…..This is a short verse text which argues that the ultimate state, repeatedly called “space” or “sky” (nam mkha’) is beyond conceptualization and cannot be reached through structured practice. The brief commentary divides the text into sections. The commentary also identifies the category of the text as Atiyoga and the author as Buddhagupta. Most of the root text also appears elsewhere in the writings of a Tibetan author, Nyen Palyang

“The Cuckoo of Awareness” and commentary (IOL Tib J 647)…..The root text here is a mere six lines (indeed an alternative title is “The Six Vajra Lines”). Again, the emphasis is on non-conceptualization and the uselessness of any practice based on striving toward a goal. The commentary expands on the basic lines without departing from these themes. In addition the commentary is concerned to reinterpret certain tantric concepts, like ‘great bliss’, and the samaya vows, in terms of nonconceptuality and spontaneous presence. The six lines of the root text appear in other Dzogchen texts, including the Kunjé Gyalpo…. "The Cuckoo of Awareness", traditionally said to be the first Dzogchen text to have been translated into Tibetan…..

"According to Podrang Zhiwa Ö… it is primarily based on an Indic source, or the lack of it. Yet there is nothing in these manuscripts to confirm an Indic source, not even the Sanskrit versions of the titles found in later Dzogchen texts. The naming of Buddhagupta as an author is interesting, and quite credible, but would hardly be likely to impress a critic who thought that these texts were fabricated by the Tibetans anyway. And then there is the date: with nothing to link them to the Tibetan imperial period, these manuscripts prove nothing about the presence, or otherwise, of Dzogchen texts during the time of the early Tibetan kings."….http://earlytibet.com/2008/01/08/early-dzogchen-i/

The Small & Hidden Grain - the Essence of Dzogchen ….The Ven. Buddhagupta (Author), Mahayana in Translation (Translator)
….A translation of Buddhagupta's "The Small & Hidden Grain" - a work of early Dzogchen discovered among the manuscripts at Dun Huang, explaining briefly the early teachings of the Great Perfection as they were communicated in Tibetan.

"The Cuckoo of Awareness" (Rig pa'i Khu Byug), together with a commentary, is found among the Dunhuang manuscripts at the British Library. The root text is also the first in a list of five early Dzogchen translations attributed to Vairocana, a contemporary of Padmasambhava (eighth century C.E.). Numerous translations of the root text are already available, but I have not seen any others of the Dunhuang commentary apart from that in Samten Karmay's "The Great Perfection", (Brill, 1988). At least the first section of the commentary was possibly written by Vairocana himself. A modern, and very helpful commentary on the text is included in Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's "Dzogchen, the self-perfected state" (Snowlion, 1996). …..http://www.zangthal.co.uk/files.html

"The Small Hidden Grain (sBas pa'i rGum Chung) by Buddhagupta is one of the very early Dzogchen texts among the Dunhuang documents at the British Library. The main theme of the text is the Enlightened Mind. It is composed of three elements: an introduction, the main text (written in red ink in the Tibetan) and interlinear notes. As these notes appear to preserve the essential points of an oral teaching on the text, they are of especial interest.
…..http://www.zangthal.co.uk/files.html

1. Dalton, Jacob, Tom Davis and Sam van Schaik. 2007. “Beyond Anonymity: Palaeographic Analyses of the Dunhuang Manuscripts” (with Tom Davis and Jacob Dalton) in Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 3.
2. Karmay, Samten. 1980. “An Open Letter by Pho-brang Zhi-ba-’od” in The Tibet Journal 5.3: 1-28.
3. Karmay, Samten. 1988. The Great Perfection. Leiden: Brill.
4. Norbu, Namkhai. 1989. Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State. London: Arkana….
Despite his enthusiasm for these manuscripts expressed in Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State, Namkhai Norbu suggests he has his own reservations about this concept of “authenticity” in stating that Dzogchen is verified by the state of awareness itself, and not by historical accounts.

"The Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: 莫高窟; pinyin: Mògāo kū), also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas (Chinese: 千佛洞; pinyin: qiān fó dòng), form a system of 492 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves, however, this term is also used as a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, and the Yulin Caves farther away. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in 366 AD as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China.An important cache of documents was discovered in 1900 in the so-called "Library Cave," which had been walled-up in the 11th century. The content of the library was dispersed around the world, and the largest collections are now found in Beijing, London, Paris and Berlin, and the International Dunhuang Project exists to coordinate and collect scholarly work on the Dunhuang manuscripts and other material. The caves themselves are now a popular tourist destination, with a number open for visiting."

"The manuscripts from the Library Cave date from fifth century until early eleventh century when it was sealed. Up to 50,000 manuscripts may have been kept there, one of the greatest treasure troves of ancient documents found. While most of them are in Chinese, a large number of documents are in various other languages such as Tibetan, Uigur, Sanskrit, and Sogdian, including the then little-known Khotanese. They may be old hemp paper scrolls in Chinese and many other languages, Tibetan pothis, and paintings on hemp, silk or paper. The subject matter of the great majority of the scrolls is Buddhist in nature, but it also covers a diverse material. Along with the expected Buddhist canonical works are original commentaries, apocryphal works, workbooks, books of prayers, Confucian works, Taoist works, Nestorian Christian works, works from the Chinese government, administrative documents, anthologies, glossaries, dictionaries, and calligraphic exercises."